This flirtatious duo in classicizing dress, painted with notable technical finesse, reflects Cot’s allegiance to the academic style of his teachers, including Bouguereau and Cabanel. Exhibited at the Salon of 1873, the picture was Cot’s greatest success, widely admired and copied in engravings, fans, porcelains, and tapestries. Its first owner, hardware tycoon John Wolfe, awarded the work a prime spot in his Manhattan mansion, where visitors delighted in "this reveling pair of children, drunken with first love ... this Arcadian idyll, peppered with French spice." Wolfe’s cousin, Catharine Lorillard Wolfe, later commissioned a similar scene from Cot, The Storm, now also in the Metropolitan’s collection (87.15.134).

Maurice du Seigneur. L'Art et les artistes au Salon de 1880. Paris, 1880, p. 31, describes the figures as the same couple who appear in Cot's "The Storm" (MMA 87.15.134), and identifies them as Daphnis and Chloë [see Refs. for "The Storm"]; notes that the composition has been extensively reproduced in a range of media.

René Delorme. "La Peinture de genre." L'Exposition des beaux-arts (Salon de 1880). Paris, 1880, unpaginated, describes the figures as the same couple who appear in Cot's "The Storm" (MMA 87.15.34) and identifies them as Paul and Virginie [see Refs. for "The Storm"].

"High Prices for Paintings: Lively Competition to Secure Gems from John Wolfe's Collection." New York Times (April 6, 1882), p. 2, notes that it sold for $9,700 [the highest price of the evening] to D.C. Lyall of Brooklyn.

"Current Events." Brooklyn Daily Eagle (April 6, 1882), p. 2, writes that it sold for $9,700, the highest price of the evening at the Wolfe sale.

"Splendid: The Loan Exhibition at the Art Association Rooms." Brooklyn Daily Eagle (January 22, 1883), p. 4, calls it "one of the most beautiful pictures in the city"; notes that it was among a number of pictures loaned by Lyall.

C. H. Stranahan. A History of French Painting from its Earliest to its Latest Practice. New York, 1888, p. 411.

"For Friendless Women and Children: Exhibition of Mr. Lyall's Gallery in Aid of the Charity." Brooklyn Daily Eagle (December 12, 1890), p. 1, discusses an exhibit of Lyall's collection, which included this work.

"The Lyall Collection." New York Times (February 4, 1903), p. 9, compares it to the work of Bouguereau and Fragonard; calls it Cot's masterpiece and notes its extraordinary popularity.

"Big Prices at Lyall Sale." New York Times (February 11, 1903), p. 2, writes that it was bought by F. J. Goodwin for $3,100.

"Art Notes." New York Times (February 15, 1903), p. 26, remarks that it did not fetch a high price in the Lyall sale.

"The Brooklyn Museum: Gifts and Loans of Pictures to the Art Museum of Brooklyn Borough by Noted Citizens." New York Times (June 17, 1903), p. 9, writes that the painting was bought in by the family at the Lyall sale and that Lyall's daughters, Mrs. Goodwin and Mrs. Bigelow, have lent the picture to the Brooklyn Museum.

William H. Goodyear and A. D. Savage. Museum of the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences: Catalogue of Paintings. [Brooklyn, N.Y.], 1910, p. 19, no. 81, list the work among the museum loans displayed in the galleries.

"Schrier Painting is Sold for $5,500." New York Times (January 18, 1919), p. 11, writes that the original studies for this painting and "The Storm" (MMA 87.15.134) were sold at the John W. Sterling sale for $775 each, to Herbert Day.

Howard Devree. "The Brooklyn Museum's Summer Shows of Paintings and of Arms and Armor." New York Times (July 23, 1933), p. X5.

Fred Ross. "The Story of 'Springtime'." Artnet. January 6, 2000, ill. (color) [www.artnet.com/magazine/features/ross/ross1-6-00.asp], discusses the details of his purchase of the painting from Michelman.

James F. Peck. In the Studios of Paris: William Bouguereau & His American Students. Exh. cat., Philbrook Museum of Art. Tulsa, 2006, pp. 124, 126, mentions three known reductions of the MMA painting, including one in The Appleton Museum of Art, Ocala, Florida; notes the influence of Bouguereau on the picture.

Carol Vogel. "Reunion of Two Paintings." New York Times (July 6, 2012), p. C20.